


Welcome Home, Son

by Anonymous



Series: L'Manburg's Rise And Fall, As Told By Children In Soldiers' Clothing [8]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: (it isn't okay— BBH and Niki feel guilty as all hell), Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BBH is an Enderman hybrid, Family Dynamics, Found Family, Happy Ending, Memory Loss, Niki is an Enderman hybrid, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Sapnap is a Blaze hybrid, Surprising coming from me I know, based off of baby Dory, happie :], no cursing bc it's BBH and Ranboo, promises are broken but it's okay bc Ranboo doesn't remember them, ranboo is an enderman hybrid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:01:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28443579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Ranboo suffers from short-term memory loss.-------------Title is from the song "Welcome Home Son", story is based around a line from "Finding Dory"-------------★ Please do not sent to any CC's★ Nothing bad in here, I'm just afraid of being known★ This will be taken down immediately if any CC's express discomfort with topics such as these
Relationships: BadBoyHalo & Ranboo, Niki | Nihachu & Ranboo, No Romantic Relationship(s), Sapnap & BadBoyHalo, Sapnap & Ranboo
Series: L'Manburg's Rise And Fall, As Told By Children In Soldiers' Clothing [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013610
Comments: 52
Kudos: 863
Collections: Anonymous





	Welcome Home, Son

**Author's Note:**

> SBI who?
> 
> I only know DadBoyHalo
> 
> CW: implied child abandonment, implied starvation  
> ★ neither are detailed or expanded on ★

Niki kneels in front of her little brother, holding his small hands gently in hers as she looks up at him (never in his eyes).

"One more time, okay?" She asks gently, a smile on her face. 

He nods quickly, as most seven year olds do. "Hi! My name is— is Ranboo! I suffer from short-term remembery loss! My big sister is Niki!" He smiles wide. 

Niki cheers. "Yes! Perfect! You're doing so well, Ran-ran!" She hugs him close.

"When do you say that to people?" She asks him. He thinks long and hard, little face scrunching in concentration. 

He is only seven, and she is thirteen, but they are on their own. Niki's sure that no one will find her little brother while she's looking for food or work, but they hold this ritual every time, anyway.

(Once, he asks why they're so thin when the few people they see aren't. She says it's because of their Ender genes.)

(She looks doubly hard for food that day.)

"When— if they ask me my name!" Ranboo says after a moment. Another cheer, another hug.

"Exactly! You are so smart, you know that?" Niki claps, pulling away and standing up. 

"I'm going to go away for a little bit, okay? I'll be back before it gets dark, I promise! I'm going to get us some munchies!" Niki holds a pinky out, and Ranboo easily hooks his with hers.

"Okay! Love you, Niki!" He smiles up at her. 

"Love you too, Ranboo. Stay safe." 

The last time Niki sees Ranboo, he is turning around and crawling back into the hollow crevice that she's called home. 

* * *

Niki comes back when the moon is high in the sky. It's snowing out, and she's trembling when she makes her way back.

There's no sign of Ranboo.

A fire is still flickering inside.

* * *

Bad doesn't mean to stumble across a crying child in the woods, but he quickly tries to comfort him. The poor kid looks like he's in pain, and Bad's heart aches for him.

"Oh dear, what's wrong?" He kneels in front of the boy, but still has to bend further down to see his eyes. 

The kid screams when Bad makes eye contact, raising his hands to cover his face. It is dark and cold outside, and Bad can see perfectly fine. The little boy is half-Ender, he realizes, like him. Oh, he's probably hurt him more with the eye contact.

He sets a gentle hand on the boy's arm (he is so, so thin, too thin for even a full Enderman) and whispers calming phrases, coaxing the boy to uncover his eyes. His tears are probably burning him, Bad realizes, and he is quick to wipe them away.

(The burns are still there, but Bad has experience, he'll be able to get those healed right back up)

"Hey, buddy, what's wrong?" Bad whispers. The boy sniffles and wipes his nose on his arm. Bad can tell he's trying to be brave.

"Hi. M-my name is Ra-anboo and— and I suff-fer from-m short-ter-rm remembery loss-s." He stutters out. "M-my— my big s-sister is— is—" 

Bad frowns as little Ranboo's face contorts into a sobbing mess again after a moment of thought. Bad can only assume that either Ranboo has forgotten, or that something unsightly has happened. 

He scoops the child into a hug and holds him tightly. "Oh kiddo, I'm so sorry." He pats Ranboo's back soothingly and lets the tears fall on his shoulder instead of the kid's face.

"I'm so sorry." 

There is not much else he can say.

* * *

Bad takes Ranboo home that day, and spends the next month looking around for someone missing a child. 

His search yields no gain, so he reluctantly gives up. His oldest son, Sapnap, starts to call Ranboo his little brother.

Ranboo starts to call Bad his dad. 

Bad adopts the little boy into his small family.

* * *

Sapnap leaves on an adventure with his friends when Ranboo is fifteen. They're setting out to make a home of their own, Sapnap is only eighteen. 

Bad is worried, but lets him go anyway. Sapnap messages home every single day, telling them about all of his adventures and the new people he's meeting.

Ranboo remembers the day that Sapnap asks Bad to come out and help— not clearly, but he remembers his feelings. He remembers being scared and confused as Bad packed up his things hurriedly.

He remembers feeling Bad hold his hands and look as close to his eyes as either of them ever dared.

"Ranboo, do you remember what to say if someone asks your name?"

"Hi. My name is Ranboo. I suffer from short-term memory loss. My dad isn't home right now, but he'll be back soon. Please message him if you can." Ranboo recites. 

Bad smiles and hugs his youngest. "Perfect. I'll be back, alright? A few days at most. I know you have your book, but I'll always start my messages with who I am, okay?"

"Okay, dad." Ranboo smiles, hugging his dad back. He is stronger than he used to be, and taller, too. He is no longer only skin and bones.

"I love you so, so much, okay, muffinhead?" Bad says, releasing his son. Ranboo nods.

"Love you too, dad! Tell Sapnap I said hi?" He asks. Bad nods, now.

"Of course."

* * *

Bad does not come back in a few days. Ranboo knows that he exists, but he forgets his dad's voice and face anyway. He gets messages almost every day from both Sapnap and Bad, and each time they tell him just who they are.

(His book says that Bad promised to do that. His book also says that Bad never breaks his promises.)

When the third week hits, Ranboo packs his things. It's a horrible, horrible idea for him to wander on his own. It's downright dangerous, and possibly fatal, but he still cinches his bag shut and belts his book to his side. 

Sapnap promises not to tell Bad. He sends Ranboo the coordinates and direction, which the Ender-hybrid writes on his pale arm. 

Ranboo tells his brother and father that he loves them very much, and he leaves home.

* * *

He thinks it's his sixteenth birthday (Sapnap's nineteenth, since Sapnap decided that he and Ranboo should have matching birthdays) when he comes across a wooden path at the edge of the forest, weeks later. He tells Sapnap about it, and his brother types a frantic 'stay there'.

Ranboo waits at the path, swinging his arms and practicing his lines.

"My name is Ranboo. I suffer from short-term memory loss. It's nice to meet you." He mutters to himself. 

He hears footsteps on the path and pokes his head out to see Sapnap walking along the planks. There's someone with him who is decidedly very much not Bad. 

She is small and blonde, but her eyes are too green to be normal, and her ears are too pointed to be human. Sapnap's orange eyes glow even from far away, and Ranboo spots the fiery rods floating around him in circles. 

He steps onto the path fully, and waves. 

"Sapnap!" He calls. His brother looks at him, grins, and jogs forward. 

The girl stops in her tracks, like she's seen a ghost. Ranboo is tall and strange-looking, though, so he thinks nothing of it.

"Ran!" Sapnap calls. "Hey, bud, how're you?" 

"I'm okay." Ranboo answers truthfully. 

"How was the trip?" Sapnap asks. Ranboo bends down so that his older brother can hook an arm over his shoulders. "Gods, stop growing!"

Ranboo laughs in return, and looks back up at the girl. 

"Hi." He says. "My name is Ranboo. I suffer from short-term memory loss, so I'm sorry if I forget your name. It's nice to meet you!"

Sapnap immediately starts worrying when she bursts into tears. He releases his brother and darts right back over.

"Niki! What's wrong? Niki?"

* * *

"My name is Ranboo! I suffer from short-term remembery loss!"

* * *

Ranboo falls asleep that night squished between his brother and his sister, sitting on a couch. Bad comes by and lays a blanket across the three, smiling gently.

Niki never stops thanking Bad for taking care of Ranboo when she couldn't. Bad shakes his head and simply welcomes her into the family. 

(And he's only a little upset that his sons did not tell him what the youngest was doing)

**Author's Note:**

> :] 
> 
> Bet you didn't expect fluff from me of all people, huh?


End file.
